Dog Days
by Deandra
Summary: The dogs of Meduseld interact with the royal family. Fluffy little ONESHOT. Part 36 of the Elfwine Chronicles.


**_Part 36 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes._**

_A/N: utsuri is responsible for this plot bunny. Haven't experienced this activity personally, so I hope I got the details right. _

_Nienor – Yeah, I've been prolific. Oneshots are short enough that they write very quickly, especially since you only have to develop a certain thought, not an entire storyline. I think when I reach 50 of them, I may sit down and read them in chronological order to get the "whole story"! If you want to see what the chronological order is, I posted the Elfwine Chronicles Timeline and update it periodically so everyone knows ages, etc. based on my "universe" within Tolkien's world. _

_Thanks to lindahoyland and bunny babe for the info they sent on babies moving in the womb. I'd still like to hear from any of you with first hand experience in feeling it and can describe the response of your husband. (If you wonder what I'm talking about, see Ch. 2 of The Touch for an Author's Plea.) _

**Dog Days **

**(Nov, 10 IV)**

In the year 3003 of the Third Age, when Theodred, son of Theoden, king of Rohan, was 25 years of age, he was gifted with a pair of dogs. These were not the usual ordinary small animal, but one male and one female, both roughly the size of a miniature pony. Theodred's young orphaned cousins, Eomer and Eowyn, who had come to live with him and his father the previous year, developed quite an attachment to the animals, possibly seeking solace in their grief.

Over the years that followed, Theodred was away from Meduseld frequently and his cousins cared for the animals in his absence. Indeed the task was increased in magnitude since the pair had mated and produced two puppies. In due course, however, Eomer became of age to join an eored, and he too was often absent from the royal household. That left the dogs primarily to Eowyn's care.

Eowyn made some use of the animals in creating a barrier between herself and Grima Wormtongue, a man who had come to be her uncle's chief adviser. Grima disliked the dogs intensely, but tolerated them only because Eowyn was so fond of them and he was interested in Eowyn. Eowyn intensely disliked Grima and spurned any of his advances, but had to tread lightly because of his relationship with the king. She never dared cause the animals to attack Grima in her defense, but she kept them as close to her as she could whenever possible since it proved a deterrent to Grima approaching her.

As the years passed, much changed in the halls of Meduseld. Theodred and Theoden were killed during the War of the Ring, and Eomer was named the new king of Rohan. The lady Eowyn married Faramir, Steward of Gondor, and moved to that country in 3019. The following year Eomer married Lothiriel of Dol Amroth and a new royal household was set in place.

In April of the year 1 in the Fourth Age, a son was born to Eomer and Lothiriel. This heir to the throne was given the name Elfwine, and the couple rejoiced in this start on their growing family, but it was seven more years before another child joined them. Elfwine's sibling was a girl, named Theodwyn after her paternal grandmother. In personality, it became almost immediately apparent that Theodwyn favored her aunt Eowyn. She was an active, rambunctious child and quite a handful for her parents and nurse.

Spurred in part by her father's fond reminisces of his relationship with his own sister, Elfwine and Theodwyn quickly became very close and Theodwyn absolutely adored her older brother. On more than one occasion her wrath was raised when she was prevented from tagging along in doing something Elfwine was doing, for which she was considered too young. A prime example was in riding horses.

Elfwine had almost an innate affinity for horses and was possessed of tremendous natural riding ability, much to the relief of his father, whose earliest attempts at introducing his son to horses had been a dismal failure. As with Elfwine, Lothiriel insisted that her children not be put on a horse outside of a paddock before the age of three when they would be old enough to hold on by themselves. Although Eomer would let Theodwyn sit in front of him and ride around the paddock, she considered that unsatisfactory as she watched Elfwine ride off with friends in open spaces.

Possibly for that reason, Theodwyn developed a unique solution to the restrictions placed on her with regard to horses. She quickly discovered that the dogs of Meduseld were just the right size for her. She could climb on, wrap her arms and legs around them and, invariably, they would take off down the hall, thinking to shake her off. The dogs' efforts to lose this unwelcome burden were never successful, but they did not cease trying.

Daelwyn, Theodwyn's nurse; her mother; her father and his Doorward, Gamling, had all chastized Theodwyn for galloping the dogs down the hall, and though she occasionally tried to look chagrined, she never ceased her "rides". Eventually, servants and family alike just sighed in dismay, freed the dogs from her clutches and went on about their activities. They were able to stop her rides, but were never successful in preventing them altogether.

The family grew used to her thundering forays, but it still occasionally proved a bit embarrassing. It was not unusual, if a door was accidentally left ajar, for Theodwyn to come riding through her father's council meeting with his advisers. Generally, he merely rubbed his forehead in defeat, and pretended not to notice until his wife or a servant turned up to drag the protesting child off the dog, and remove them both from the room.

At length, it became very clear to the dogs that if they wanted relief, they must take matters into their own paws. They took to hiding at the merest glimpse of Theodwyn, or sound of her approach. In fact, eventually the dogs were scarcely seen around the palace. Food was put out for them, and it mysteriously disappeared, but few ever glimpsed the dogs eating.

Needless to say, Theodwyn was greatly displeased with this turn of events, and was very vocal in her complaints. After one lengthy tirade that caused Theodwyn to be sent to her room until she could behave more calmly, Eomer slipped his arms around his wife. Carefully considering his words, he tentatively suggested, "Beloved, would you even contemplate the possibility of Theodwyn riding with me outside of a paddock?"

Lothiriel knew what he was hinting at, and was reluctant to give in on this issue, but their daughter was a force to be reckoned with. Heaving a sigh, she told him, "Very well. But ONLY with Theodwyn. Any future children who develop designs on the dogs will be punished immediately, and the dogs will be banished elsewhere until they overcome their fixation!"

Laughing, Eomer kissed her neck and replied, "Agreed!"

It took several weeks before the dogs returned to a visible presence in the halls of Meduseld. But when it became apparent that they had found reprieve, they finally wandered back to their former place by the fire and proffered handouts from meals. Once again, peace filled the halls of Meduseld.

THE END

7-28-05

**_End note: It is not essential that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written, but there is an advantage to doing so. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order (#15 came after #17, I think), but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content. _**


End file.
